Port Catheter Lawsuit Filed After Infection Led to Sepsis, Death

Lawsuit claims AngioDynamics knew about SmartPort port catheter design problems before woman’s husband received his implant.

An Oklahoma woman has filed a SmartPort port catheter lawsuit alleging that the device’s allegedly defective design led to her husband’s death from infection and sepsis.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Darla Meyer, on behalf of herself and the estate of Robin Dean Meyer, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on October 1, naming AngioDynamics Inc. and Navilyst Medical Inc. as defendants.

Meyer indicates her husband’s death could have been avoided if the SmartPort would have been properly designed. She argues that the manufacturer either should have changed the design or warned patients and health care professionals about the potential health risks.

Port Catheter Risks

Port catheters are subdermal medical implants designed to provide long-term access to a patient’s veins for chemotherapy, blood transfusions, medications and other frequent and repeated intravenous treatments. They consist of an access port connected to a polyurethane catheter.

AngioDymanics, and C.R. Bard, both leading medical device manufacturers, currently face hundreds of port catheter lawsuits filed by individuals nationwide, who say they suffered bloodstream infections, blood clots, damage to veins and other serious complications, which could include death. Complaints suggest the design and materials used in the port catheters can cause the material to deteriorate after implantation, creating irregular surfaces where bacteria and blood products may collect and contribute to infections and other problems.

In particular, AngioDynamics port catheter lawsuits maintain the manufacturer was aware of faulty design features and chose to continue promoting and selling the devices without additional warnings.

SmartPort Sepsis Allegations

According to the complaint, Robin Dean Meyer received an AngioDynamics SmartPort catheter in August 2024 to facilitate chemotherapy treatments. Just weeks later, in early October, he was hospitalized with a serious infection and diagnosed with sepsis.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body’s response to an infection causes widespread inflammation and organ dysfunction. It can develop from infections involving the lungs, bloodstream, urinary tract or skin, as well as infections associated with implanted medical devices.

Symptoms of sepsis may include fever, chills, confusion, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing and dangerously low blood pressure. Without prompt treatment, the condition can progress to organ failure and death.

Doctors ultimately determined that Meyer’s implanted port was the source of his infection and surgically removed the device on October 15, 2024. However, the lawsuit alleges that the infection had already progressed too far, and Meyer died from sepsis four days later, on October 19.

“Defendants were aware or should have been aware that the SmartPort had a substantially higher failure rate than other similar products on the market, yet Defendants failed to warn consumers of this fact. Defendants also intentionally concealed the severity of complications caused by the SmartPort and the likelihood of these events occurring.”

– Darla Meyer v AngioDynamics Inc. et al.

The lawsuit raises allegations of fraudulent concealment, negligence, failure to warn, design defect, manufacturing defect, breach of warranty, wrongful death and survival action. It seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

Port Catheter Lawsuits

Meyer’s complaint will be consolidated with hundreds of similar AngioDynamics port catheter lawsuits currently before U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Southern District of California for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. The judge is eventually expected to order attorneys to identify a limited number of representative claims for early bellwether trials.

A similar MDL has been consolidated before U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell in the District of Arizona to handle all federal Bard PowerPort lawsuits. The first Bard PowerPort bellwether case went before a jury earlier this year leading to an incomplete verdict and the plaintiff seeking a new trial, with claims that jurors received improper instructions.

The second bellwether trial resulted in a $40 million verdict for a New Mexico woman who alleged her PowerPort broke apart inside her body, allowing fragments to travel to her heart and resulting in a pulmonary embolism.

Judge Campbell has planned additional Bard PowerPort bellwether trials throughout the year. While the outcomes of these early test trials are not binding on any other claims, they are being closely watched to see if they can help plaintiffs and defendants in reaching a potential port catheter lawsuit settlement agreement.

If no settlement or other resolution is reached, individual claims could eventually be sent back to their originating federal courts for separate trials.

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